Newfies to sue Newfoundland because of moose problem

[#juan]

TELUS, news, headlines, stories, breaking, canada, canadian, national

at 11:25 on June 07, 2011, EDT.

Sue Bailey, The Canadian Press

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Victims of moose-vehicle accidents who want to sue Newfoundland and Labrador got a green light Tuesday to proceed with a landmark class-action lawsuit.

Justice Richard LeBlanc told the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador he supports certification of the case, although he raised some concerns.

LeBlanc wants lawyers for the victims and the provincial government to reconsider whether the class should be restricted to victims who were treated in hospital.

Ches Crosbie, the lawyer for the victims, claims the province has negligently failed to manage a moose population that is a public nuisance. He's calling for unspecified compensation, moose fencing, a cull of the herd and other measures to reduce an estimated 800 collisions or close calls last year alone.

This is looney. Newfies are suing Newfoundland because people are running into moose and killing themselves. Surely a 1400 pound moose is not that hard to see. Who will pay any fines? Why Newfoundlanders of course.

Just four moose were brought to Newfoundland from New Brunswick in 1904. There are now approximately 120000 moose Nfd. I'm sure a lot of households have a moose in the freezer. Now the people who drove too fast to be able to see the moose on the hwy are wanting to sue the government for their bad driving.

 

[ironsides]

I think we all should do a "Crocodile Dundee" on the Newfies like he did with when the drunks started shooting the kangaroos. The moose also are a good way to keep the speed down.

 

[TenPenny]

Surely a 1400 pound moose is not that hard to see.

You don't drive at night, or anywhere with a moose or deer population, do you?

 

[#juan]

You don't drive at night, or anywhere with a moose or deer population, do you?

I don't currently drive in moose country at night more than once or twice a year but I've had a few near misses that woudn't have been near misses if I'd been driving a bit slower. In Newfoundland the abundance of moose are just part of the road conditions, like rain or black ice. You learn to adjust your driving or face the consequences.
In Nanaimo where I live, deer are absolute pests. We see deer literally every day. I don't think deer are among the Einsteins of the animal
kindom. I don't know how many times I've seen a deer at the side of a road remain motionless until there is a car coming and dash across at the last minute. Deer don't have the bulk of a moose but they can still do a lot of damage if they enter your car through
the windshield.

 

[TenPenny]

I don't currently drive in moose country at night more than once or twice a year but I've had a few near misses that woudn't have been near misses if I'd been driving a bit slower. In Newfoundland the abundance of moose are just part of the road conditions, like rain or black ice. You learn to adjust your driving or face the consequences.
In Nanaimo where I live, deer are absolute pests. We see deer literally every day. I don't think deer are among the Einsteins of the animal
kindom. I don't know how many times I've seen a deer at the side of a road remain motionless until there is a car coming and dash across at the last minute. Deer don't have the bulk of a moose but they can still do a lot of damage if they enter your car through
the windshield.

Deer do a lot of damage? How? How could anyone hit a deer? How could you have a near miss with a moose? They're not hard to see. No reason that you should ever have had a near miss. It's not like they're hard to see.

 

[ironsides]

You don't drive at night, or anywhere with a moose or deer population, do you?

Yup, I do fairly regularly. (Deer, Bear and Florida Puma).

 

[petros]

Build a moose bridge or tunnel. We have a few of those in SK for ruminants and cattle.

 

[TenPenny]

Yup, I do fairly regularly. (Deer, Bear and Florida Puma).

As do I, but the question was directed at the person who wondered why a moose was hard to see.

 

[petros]

Sask has sections of HWY 1 that moose and elk are becoming problematic for strikes. There is something like 15,000 deer alone smoked by cars yearly in SK annually causing 20+ deaths (I'll dig proper sats shortly).

The number of claims SGI receives annually as a result of wildlife collisions has been increasing every year for more than 15 years. In 2000, they received 10, 645 claims compared to 15, 869 claims last year.

Deer going through the windsheild is dangerous enough but when you up the stakes by 500-800lb things get really sh!tty.


Here is a real gem....

Saskatchewan cyclist hurt in collision with deer
The Canadian Press Jun 28, 2010 16:45:36 PM

LUMSDEN, Sask. - A cyclist had to be taken to hospital for treatment after he collided with a deer on a highway north of Regina.

Lumsden RCMP say the man in his 60s was pedalling quite quickly when two deer crossed Highway 11 in front of him.

The cyclist lost control when he tried to go around the animals and hit one of them.
He wasn't seriously hurt, but had to be taken to a Regina hospital by ambulance.
Police say it's not known if the deer was injured.

 

[Praxius]

This is looney.

No, this is:

Newfies are suing Newfoundland because people are running into moose and killing themselves. Surely a 1400 pound moose is not that hard to see. Who will pay any fines? Why Newfoundlanders of course.

Have you ever hit something with your car?

A deer, rabbit, racoon, porcupine, skunk, cat, dog??

I have and I was going the speed limit and paying attention to the roads. I've hit 1 skunk, 1 racoon and 2 porcupines since I started driving. Which all occurred on a highway or around a sharp corner. My mother hit a deer once..... hell I almost his a kangaroo last week.

When they're standing like an idiot on the highway, you can see them and slow down or stop.... but when they come full speed from the side of the road or out of the woods along the side of the road at the wrong time, it doesn't matter how good a driver you think you are, they're going to get hit and you're the one who's going to hit them.

And hitting a moose is indeed, not the same as hitting a deer, racoon or skunk, especially at night time. At night, they're virtually all black in colour and while hitting a deer will cause some good damage to your vehicle..... due to the height of moose, when they hit your car, your hood hits their legs, which turns the body of the moose into a projectile which that 1400 pounds you mentioned, flies straight through your windsheild.

Ever seen a car that was hit by a moose?

^ And when the moose didn't die on impact, you have them kicking and rolling around on top of you.

You try driving your car or pulling to the side of the road in that situation.

Just four moose were brought to Newfoundland from New Brunswick in 1904. There are now approximately 120000 moose Nfd. I'm sure a lot of households have a moose in the freezer. Now the people who drove too fast to be able to see the moose on the hwy are wanting to sue the government for their bad driving.

Yes, now why don't you explain to everyone why that moose population grew so large.

I'll save you the time...... their population blew up because there was no natural predator for the moose in Newfoundland..... a factor the NF government didn't seem to factor in..... which is why they're responsible for the situation.

To chalk up all the deaths relating to moose as people being idiots and speeding just shows your ignorance on the situation. Yes the moose were brought in to ensure there was available meat on the island for everybody, due to the high cost of shipping it in from mainland...... but the government never thought the situation through and these people are dying in situations that would have otherwise never have occurred in the first place.

So they have every right to sue can gain some compensation.

Prove they were speeding.

 

[TenPenny]

Saskatchewan cyclist hurt in collision with deer
The Canadian Press Jun 28, 2010 16:45:36 PM

My doctor hit a deer on his bike last fall, he was flying along a road, and the deer ran right in front of him, he went arse over teakettle and messed up his leg for a while.

 

[Tonington]

Four moose introduced in 1904, population grows to 150,000 today, and now they're a problem causing hundreds of accidents and injuries a year. Negligence doesn't sound so far fetched.

 

[taxslave]

I don't currently drive in moose country at night more than once or twice a year but I've had a few near misses that woudn't have been near misses if I'd been driving a bit slower. In Newfoundland the abundance of moose are just part of the road conditions, like rain or black ice. You learn to adjust your driving or face the consequences.
In Nanaimo where I live, deer are absolute pests. We see deer literally every day. I don't think deer are among the Einsteins of the animal
kindom. I don't know how many times I've seen a deer at the side of a road remain motionless until there is a car coming and dash across at the last minute. Deer don't have the bulk of a moose but they can still do a lot of damage if they enter your car through
the windshield.

Don't be too sure about the deer. true some of them are as stupid as tourists in traffic but there is at least one that lives around our place that I have seen watching the traffic flow on the four lane stretch and wait until she can not see any cars before crossing. Seen it more than once but I can't tell if it is the same deer.

Deer do a lot of damage? How? How could anyone hit a deer? How could you have a near miss with a moose? They're not hard to see. No reason that you should ever have had a near miss. It's not like they're hard to see.

Never drove in deer country have you?

 

[Praxius]

Deer do a lot of damage? How? How could anyone hit a deer? How could you have a near miss with a moose? They're not hard to see. No reason that you should ever have had a near miss. It's not like they're hard to see.

Deer can and do do a lot of damage to smaller cars.

When I was driving along in Dartmouth near the Burnside Industrial Park, there was a deer I saw on the side of the road and I slowed down.... it was just standing there waiting and didn't move while I past, but there was a transport truck right behind me and as soon as it came near, the deer bolted directly in front of it and the truck had to slam on his breaks to avoid him..... the truck driver wasn't speeding, in fact he was just moving from a red light and trying to get up to speed when it happened. Due to the timing of the deer bolting across the road, he still had to slam his breaks on.

I also remember when I was in high school we were driving to school after lunch and we came across a Honda Civic that plowed into a deer. It smashed the crap out of the car, the deer flew a few metres down the road and hit so hard that it shot the fetus it was carrying across the highway.

The day before I left Canada, my wife & I were driving back to my dad's late at night and as I rounded the corner, two deer were on the road. By the time I got to a complete stop, one was a foot away from my bumper and the other was strolling alongside my passenger side mirror.

I never hit a deer or a moose, but it's a hell of a lot easier to collide with them then you make it out to be, and through no fault of your own in some cases.

 

[TenPenny]

You guys need to follow the theme...the idea that moose are easy to see and therefore there's no reason to hit them comes from the OP...I thought my sarcasm was easy to follow, especially considering my first reply.

 

[Tonington]

It was easy to follow...like moose sized sarcasm. Maybe it's dark where they are.

 

[Praxius]

Four moose introduced in 1904, population grows to 150,000 today, and now they're a problem causing hundreds of accidents and injuries a year. Negligence doesn't sound so far fetched.

They were talking about the population problem and vehicle accidents relating to them for decades. All the information I know on the moose in Newfoundland came from a documentary I watched 15 years ago. This problem isn't new.... but the lawsuit is.

Oh and for the record:

"In 1878 a bull and a cow were brought from Nova Scotia and released at Gander Bay. In 1904 two bulls and two cows from New Brunswick were released near Howley."

NEWFOUNDLAND MOOSE

6 moose total were introduced.

 

[#juan]

Deer do a lot of damage? How? How could anyone hit a deer? How could you have a near miss with a moose? They're not hard to see. No reason that you should ever have had a near miss. It's not like they're hard to see.

The dopey sarcasm is noted.:roll: Most of the problem with vehicular deer or moose strikes is related to the speed the vehicle is traveling.

It just makes sense to slow down to try to avoid deer or moose strikes. But TenPenny, Just set your cruise control at 75 mph and don't worry about it

 

[Praxius]

Speaking of vehicle collisions with animals and how they can occur:

2 killed in freak crash with bear
2 killed in freak crash with bear - Ottawa - CBC News

....... A Pontiac Sunfire travelling east slammed into a black bear at about 10:30 p.m. on Highway 148, near the town of Luskville, said the local police from MRC des Collines.

The 200-kilogram bear was thrown into the air and struck a black SUV travelling in the opposite direction, police said. The bear smashed through the SUV's front windshield and out the back window.

The driver of the SUV, a 25-year-old Ottawa woman, was pronounced dead at the scene, along with a 40-year-old Gatineau man later identified as Steven Leon, who was sitting in the seat behind her. The woman's name has not yet been released.

Her 28-year-old boyfriend, sitting in the front of the SUV, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Hull Hospital. The two male occupants of the Pontiac Sunfire were not hurt......

It can still be no fault of your own, but another driver, and you can still end up being dead..... and this was just a black bear, not a moose.

There are many possible ways a collision with an animal can occur or unfold.